For my new film Paraiso Travel, I became fluent in Spanish, lived in Bogota, and helped set up an Educational Film channel in the country. I've always had a secret desire to make films regarding the experiences of Colombians and other Hispanics because of my own experiences in their countries. Unfortunately, all Hollywood had been making were films about drug dealing, as if that was the only significant activity below our borders.
Ten years ago I first met Santiago Diaz when I was in Colombia attempting to see what had happened in the nascent film industry there, since I had left. We discussed literature, art, Borges, Marquez and the possibility of making films together that would tell stories that could appeal to local Colombian audiences as well as cross over to U.S. viewers. We both felt that the Hispanic population in the U.S. was underserved in the cinema, but we also felt that many of the stories that would specifically appeal to them had global appeal as well. Shortly thereafter, Santiago sent me a copy of Paraiso Travel by Jorge Franco. Here it was; a great love story, a chance to look at immigration from another perspective that I had not seen on screen, and quirky, strong, REAL characters that would appeal to anyone, regardless of their ethnicity.
Santiago and his partners had optioned the book to make a film and asked for my help. It was to be their first feature, and they thought I had something they could learn from and collaborate with. The story was set briefly in Medellin, Colombia, and mostly in the Hispanic neighborhoods of New York City...specifically, Jackson Heights, Queens. Well, I'm a Brooklyn boy, and started my career in film in NY. I had contacts in the city and loved working there as often as possible. I also had a working knowledge of Colombia and loved the story.
I signed on with my partners in Hollywood to help in all aspects of production and post production, to help advise and support in the financing and legal elements of the show, and to work to find distributors to release the film worldwide. We would executive produce and mentor our new producing partners. I met the potential director, Simon Brand, and loved his take on the material and his enthusiasm for the challenges ahead.
The process of casting, prepping and shooting the film while simultaneously raising the money was as bumpy a road as it gets. We got and lost investors, used our credit cards to cash flow the show, sang and danced for prospective funders and eked our way through. It's a story all independent filmmakers know only too well.
But we made it through. And in the first public screening of the directors cut that we had in Los Angeles, I asked my wife for some help. She runs the premiere after-school program in the country...LA's BEST, and serves over 26,000 children and their families each day. Eighty percent of these families are Hispanic. I wanted families that had once been undocumented residents of the US to see our film. And we invited several of them.
When the film was over there was the silence that comes from people collecting their thoughts. There was also some sobbing as the lights slowly came up. A young woman spoke up in English because her father had something to say and he only spoke Spanish. She translated, "I know these people. They're like me. This is what we had to do to get here, this is my story too."
PARAISO TRAVEL premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 26th.
Saturday, April 26th, 9:00PM
AMC Village VII Theater 3
Sunday, April 27th, 2:45PM
AMC Village VII Theater 1
Monday, April 28th, 3:45PM
AMC Village VII Theater 7
Thursday, May 1st, 6:45PM
Village East Cinema 4
Saturday, May 3rd, 2:15PM
Village East Cinema 3